Yahoo Sports Top 5 triumph: No. 2 South Carolina dominates Texas in heavyweight showdown
Colonial Life Arena played host to a bout between two SEC heavyweights Sunday afternoon, and the home-team Gamecocks emerged victorious.
No. 2 South Carolina took care of No. 5 Texas with relative ease, cruising to a 67-50 victory. The Gamecocks improved to 16-1 on the year and are a perfect 4-0 to start SEC play.
Dawn Staley’s squad was dominant on both sides of the ball, holding Texas to the fewest points it’s scored this year while also catching fire on offense in its own right.
Lights-out shooting
No better time for South Carolina to have its best offensive showing of the season than against the No. 5 team in the country.
The Gamecocks shot a whopping 71.4% from the field in the first half and ended up at 51% as a team for the game.
South Carolina had three players reach double digits in scoring. The Gamecocks were led by Te-Hina Paopao and Chloe Kitts, who both finished with 11 points. Joyce Edwards finished just behind them with 10.
“It’s all about taking good shots,” Staley said. “I think you can have a night, as far as having as many turnovers as we had (22) with taking good shots. You lose games taking bad shots. And for us, we’re finally getting to that point where we’re taking better shots and we’re taking rhythm shots, and it’s paying off for us. Especially in a game like this.”
Dominant defensive showing
South Carolina kept one of the best offenses in the country under wraps all day Sunday.
The Longhorns, who averaged 90.4 points per game coming into the matchup, put up just 50 points in their worst-scoring performance of the year.
Staley’s squad held Texas to a 15% shooting clip in the first quarter leading to just nine points — Texas’ lowest-scoring quarter of the season.
Texas had no problem firing off shots, attempting 79 in the game, but couldn’t buy a bucket for most of the game. The Longhorns’ shooting percentage of 27.8% set a new season low.
Perhaps the most notable stat was the lack of production from Texas’ Madison Booker. South Carolina held the Longhorns star to just seven points on 3-of-19 shooting.
“I think (Booker) just had a really off night,” Staley said. “I think part of that was us. The other part was just she was missing chippys. She’s missing mid-range shots. I mean, she’s a 50% shooter. … But we’re fortunate. We’re fortunate. We’re fortunate we took care of home because we got to go there and play and it’s probably gonna be another tough game.”
Sania Feagin’s impact
Veteran post Sania Feagin might not have lit up the scoring column Sunday, but her presence was surely felt.
The senior led South Carolina with a plus-minus rating of 22. She finished just ahead of Raven Johnson, who had a 20 plus-minus in the game.
Feagin nearly notched a double-double while finishing with eight points and nine rebounds. She also tallied three assists and set a career high with six blocks.
“That’s what we were trying to get from Feagin for three years,” Staley said. ”Her freshman year, she coasted. She just let Aliyah (Boston) do what she needed to do, and and then she coasted a little bit more. But now I think it’s just her talent, as well as will.”
South Carolina schedule: Next 4 games
Thursday: at Alabama, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
Jan. 19: vs. Oklahoma, 3 p.m. (ESPN)
Jan. 23: vs. LSU, 8 p.m. (ESPN)
Jan. 27: at Tennessee, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)
